Top Ten anime of 2014

I did a list of my favorite anime of 2013 and since I am still writing on my anime blog I decided that I should make a list for 2014.

Like all list of favorite stuff I have to put in the warning that it is of course only my opinion. I will continue with the condition that the show must have concluded in 2014. This is my reason that Parasyte, Fate Stay Night, Shiro bako or Aldonoah Zero are not on the list. Also the other condition is that I finished the show as well. This my reason Bahamut isn't on the list either even though it is fun to watch. So in no particular order of quality(although I am progressing through the seasons as I make this list) here is my list of the best 10 anime shows of 2014.

1. Hajime no Ippo the Fighting Rising

Hajime no Ippo is my favorite sports anime of all time and I was glad there was another season of it. Even if you haven't seen the previous two seasons this show is a mixture of fun characters and intense fighting.

2. Silver Spoon

My conditions prevented me from putting this show on my list so I will do with this year. This show is a insightful and makes you think while still being an overall fun show.

3. Inari Kon Kon

This story of a girl and her forays into the supernatural was my favorite winter 2014 show. I found this show to be a nice character focused show.

4. No game No life

This story of two Otaku transported to a fantasy world run by games manages to be really fun simply because of the verve and audacity of the main character.

5. One Week Friends

This is a subdued kind of show that felt like it had some of the romantic elements I sort of liked in anime without being too heavy handed with them.

6. Hunter x Hunter

This show is one the best shonen shows of all time and the fact that it ended this year guarantees it a spot on my top 10 list.

7. Barakamon

This was an interesting slice of life show that had a bit more intellectual and emotional meat to it while still being true to the genre.

8. Monthly girls Nozaki Kun

While I technically don't have any shoujo anime on this list this comedy is the closest thing I have and it makes me not regret my lack.

9. Hanayamata

This tale of five girls learning to perform a dance was one that I found really fun to watch and one that really struck me as well animated.

10. Yuuki Yuna no Yuusha

This magical girl show is one that shows you can follow the ideas presented in Makoka Magica and still make a good and original show.

Review The fruit of Grisaia

See shaft, we can do that too.

Yuuji Kazami was a young man with a mysterious past and one wish, to be an ordinary student at and ordinary school. His wish was halfway granted, he was allowed to study in a special school with five other students, all of them girls with tragic and shady pasts. The question is just what will happen to Yuuji and his classmates in this new environment?

So many clothing options

The Fruit of Grisaia is an adaptation of a visual novel of the same name. Although it does have it's dating sim elements the show is much, much darker than your average show of the genre. While the show isn't horror it is quite grim in many of it's episodes. The show also has a strong action element to it as Yuuji is some sort of highly trained secret agent, and one that get's to make use of his skills more than you would expect in a visual novel adaptation.

Secret technique #22 Loli headbutt

While the show does have it's appeal in being original to some extent it also has quite a bit of flaws. Most notably the pacing of the show is rather jarring as it tries to cram in five story arcs into thirteen episodes taking a hacksaw to four of them. Also this show has a fair amount of fan service and what I saw was a bit more shocking than in many anime shows.

Overall I found the Fruit of Grisaia to be a very weird diversion of a show that is mostly worth watching for spectacle and novelty.

Rating the Sosuke (Full Metal Panic) for being a show most interesting because of it's deadly but socially awkward protagonist.

Review Jellyfish Princess

Yeah I have the best man boobs in town

Tsukimi was an awkward lady who loved jellyfish more than anything. Even though she could confront beautiful people (She and the other women of the dorm refer to them as the stylish) she ends up entangled with a cross-dressing guy named Kuranosuke.

I am not the secret love child of Jigen and Goemon!

Jellyfish princess is an eleven episode shojo anime. It is an interesting show in that is one of the few that deal with female geeks and not in a fetishistic sense. However I found this to be a double edged sword as on one hand it is an interesting hook but on the other hand the other members of the dorm are one note human jokes who eat up too time causing pacing problems in the rest of the show.

Despite the title on the cover there is oddly no Yaoi in that sketchbook.

The rest of the show is a love triangle between Tsukimi, Kuranosuke and his brother, as well as a couple of episodes later in the show that deal with Tsukimi embarking on a possible new calling. I found Kuranosuke to be the most interesting and unique character in the show, especially if you have seen some of the less savory male leads in shoujo media. However none of this is well developed in enough in the running time of the show and given the show's age a proper ending will probably never be animated.

Overall I found Jellyfish princes to be a nice concept that was unfortunately cluttered with unnecessary material and poor pacing.

Rating the bronze  Hideyoshi (Baka to Test) for a series made decent by cross-dressing.

Review Barakamon

Tsundere in training

Seishuu Handa was a notable calligrapher but one who's temper caused him to punch an old man who criticized his work. As punishment he was exiled to a rural island. However Handa is a city boy who is completely out of his depth in this new environment. However could this change of scenery and the people that he now lives with be a catalyst for change in Seishu?

Rpg jokes go with everything

Barakamon is a twelve episode slice of life show. The show is rather different from most of the genre as it is not a four girls do nothing type of show, but a show focusing on the slow personal transformation of a man. It is the kind of show that shows that you can tell a more personal and substantial story while still using the slice of life format.

And they say his calligraphy was going to the toilet

While it isn't the usual type of slice of show it doesn't mean that it is without moe. The other main character in the show is Naru, a totally adorable seven year old girl who is really attached to the main character. It is different enough from most shows of the genre that it feels fresh and a bit more real to life than 

Overall I found Barakamon to be a fun and unique slice of life show that should be a fun watch even for those that typically don't like said genre.

Rating the Silver undine (Aria) for being a really nice and well above average slice of life show.

Review Hunter x Hunter Phantom Rouge

Secret attack #37 Double friendship punch

One day Gon, Killua received a call from Kirapika. Kurapika supposedly found someone from his clan, who were supposedly all killed except for Kurapika, but it ended up being a trap and his eyes ended up being stolen. Will Gon and friends be able to get Kurapika's eyes back even though the culprit behind the deed is powerful and mysterious Nen user who has another connection to his past?

Some more back story for your

Phantom Rouge is a franchise movie using the Hunter x Hunter setting. As such it is an original story that doesn't exactly fit into the overall story although it does seem to happen between the York Shin and the Greed Island arcs. The first minute and a half is spent getting new viewers up to speed so this is a movie I could recommend to general audiences.

Add a goth loli in for good measure

This movie has an antagonist that exists only for the purposes of the movie just like almost every other franchise movie in existence. Phantom Rouge also has a strong focus on Killua and the conflict between his friendship with Gon and the conditioning he received from his family (fans of the franchise will notice how this comes up early in the Chimera ant arc), making this movie a bit better than most movies like it, although not enough to warrant an award upgrade.

Overall I found Hunter x Hunter Phantom Rouge to be One of the better franchise movies and something that would be good fun for any fan of the franchise.

Rating the bronze mewtew (pokemon) for being a completely decent franchise movie.

Review Hunter x Hunter Last Mission

No let's discuss my fee

One day (probably in a break between the Greed Island and Chimera Ant arcs) Gon and Killua decide to revist the heaven's pillar battle arena to see their old friend Zushi fight in the battle Olympia. However they pick the wrong day to come as the arena is taken over by a group of powerful people who are able subdue the fighters and even capture the Hunter association president Netero.

You need a couple more minions to be a threat to them.

The Hunter x Hunter Movie is pretty much like most any other Franchise movie that is not based off of any previous material. It is a movie only for those familiar with Hunter x Hunter anime or manga. There is a new set of villains that have never been mentioned before and will never will be mentioned again after the main characters defeat them.

Not just a poor mountaineer, trying to keep his family fed

The main focus of this movie is a collection of things that most Hunter x Hunter fans would like to see and tossing them into a plot blender. I found that the plot to the movie to be decent and one that fits the Hunter x Hunter somewhat although one would have to wonder if the Hunter organization will let a psycho like Hisoka join what need they would have to have a secret section of the group.

Overall this movie tries to be a little bit of a treat to fans of the franchise and does nothing more than that.

the bronze mewtoo (pokemon) for being a totally standard franchise movie

Review Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles

The gang's all here

Syaoran was a young archeologist in the kingdom of Clow and was also friends with the country's princess Sakura. One night the two of them sneaked into some ruins and some strange to Sakura in that she grows wings and which scatter and leave her unconscious. To recover the feather which are made of her soul Syaoran and Sakura will have to embark on a journey through various worlds, along with two other travelers and an adorable mascot character.

Winged mascot

Tsubasa resevior chronicles is a an adventure show that lasts more than one season but the first twenty six episodes are what I will be reviewing in this article. Even though I said it was an adventure show I found this anime show to be a little light on the fighting for the most part the mood of the show does change a bit depending on what world the characters are currently in. The first season consists of four story arcs after the story is set up as well as three one episode stories.

A new outfit for every world

It is worth mentioning is that this anime is an adaptation of a manga by CLAMP who have taken the opportunity to jam the material full of cameos of characters from their other works and those that are familiar with said works (particularly Card Captor Sakura, Rayearth and X) will get more out of this show than other people.

While I will certainly call Tsubasa a shonen show I would also remind people that it is only sort of one in the way that isn't bound to the tropes of said demographic and genre so that people that are turned off by another Naruto or Bleach clone could still find this show entertaining.

Overall I consider Tsubasa to be only a decent show but something that looks like it has a broad appeal and would probably be worth showing at your local anime club.

Rating the bronze Mokona for being the ultimate CLAMP show but only an okay adventure show.

Review Aldonoah Zero

Your super advanced prototype is no match for my mass produced training unit

Fifteen years ago there was a short war between the people of Earth and the Vers Empire who lives on Mars. Then the princess of Vers went to Earth to have a more formal peace between the two peoples. Suddenly an assassination attempt on the princess not only wrecks her plans of peace but ignites a new war between Vers and Earth as the orbital knights almost immediately launch an attack on Earth.

Don't do it. There is a second season to live for.

Aldonoah Zero is a mecha show that is made up of two twelve episode seasons. This review only covers the first season. The story of a war between the Earth and space is a well worn trope of the mecha genre but I feel this show does breathe new life into the tale. This show has considerable strengths to it, primarly it's rather tight pacing and inventive fight choreography.

Slaine, in the middle of shooting someone

There are some more controversial aspects to the show as well. Most of this has to deal with the characterization of the two main leads. One of them (Inaho) is mostly emotionless, and the other (Slaine) seems to have little point in the show, other than to throw a major wrench into the plot at episode 12. However It has been a while since I enjoyed a mecha show as much as Aldonoah Zero and good mecha shows are hard to find these days.

Overall I found Aldo Noah Zero to be a welcome take on old story tropes and exciting action scenes.

Rating the Silver Zeon medal of Merit (Gundam) for being one of the best mecha shows in recent years.